Keith
Bennett's mother Winnie Johnson (centre) leaves Manchester Cathedral with the Bishop of Manchester the
Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch (right) and the Rector of St.
Chrysostom's church in Manchester Rev. Ian Gomersall (left)

'I'll do anything, go anywhere for him. As long as I know one day, I'll be grateful.

'I hope he's found before I am dead. All I want out of life is to find him and bury him. I just wish he is found before I go.'

Keith was just 12 when he was abducted by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley
as he walked the short distance from his home to his grandmother's
house, in Longsight, Manchester.

For 20 years, Mrs Johnson never knew what happened to her son until
Brady and Hindley confessed to murdering him on Saddleworth Moor,
Greater Manchester.

He is the only one of their five victims whose body has never been recovered.

Despite extensive searches Keith's body has never been found and Mrs Johnson has been unable to lay her son to rest.

Today 300 people, including immigration minister and MP for
Saddleworth Phil Woolas, joined Mrs Johnson in finally paying tribute
to Keith at a service lead by the Bishop of Manchester, the Right
Reverend Nigel McCulloch.

During the hour-long service, Mrs Johnson spoke in front of a large painting of her son based on the famous black and white photo of the smiling youngster.

Keith, the congregation heard, was a cheerful child, and, in a time
when children's experiences were confined to the neighbourhood where
they were born, he enjoyed street games, marbles and cycling.

He was a young boy with a 'happy-go-lucky attitude and a cheeky grin',
who kept leaves in a scrapbook, collected coins and loved football.

Keith's body has never been found. His mother stood in front of this
portrait of Keith (right) which was unveiled at the Manchester service
as she spoke. It is based on the famous black and white photo of the
smiling youngster (left)

Danny Kilbride, brother of victim John Kilbride, and Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Phil Woolas

The ceremony started with music, Till There Was You, a pop song by a
then-emerging Liverpool band, The Beatles, whom Keith, like millions of
other youngsters in the 1960s, had begun to follow.

Norie Miles, a friend of the Johnson family, told the congregation of
around 300: 'He had a huge heart. He was happy, wondrous, caring... a
truly lovely Manchester boy.'

Today's public memorial service was in lieu of a funeral and came after
police, who have spent five decades searching, made one last massive
effort two years ago using the latest technology to scour the Moors
above Manchester.

But they failed to locate Keith's remains and declared last July that,
without significant new information coming to light, the search was at
an end.

The service also heard from Professor John Hunter, an archaeologist specialising in finding the graves of missing people.

He advised police on the search for Keith and personally undertook searches across Saddleworth.

'I can't think of any other case in the UK where resources have been
deployed to such an extent so long after the event,' Prof Hunter said.

'I have no idea how many weeks I have spent on those Moors in the last two decades, trying out ideas, trying out methods.'

Mrs Johnson speaks during the service. She has never given up hope of finding him

During the service at Manchester Cathedral, Mrs Johnson lit a memorial candle

Prof Hunter said many people had offered support and some were still
searching themselves. He added that there was still hope for Mrs
Johnson.

'I have learnt many things in looking for the missing,' he said.

'Above all else I have learnt the importance of closure in returning
the lost ones, the importance of returning husbands to their wives and
sons to their mothers and the difference that that makes.'

The Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch, Bishop of Manchester, told the
congregation: 'The hills of Saddleworth Moor, for all their stark and
awesome beauty, are the sombre backcloth for our act of memorial; but
our words and worship lift us above and beyond to a Lord who, long ago
upon another hill, had his life taken from him.

'We come today - drawn together within the cast of a long shadow of
tragedy and grief - to glimpse a ray of light, to tinge our laments
with memories that are joyful too and, despite the anguish of these
terrible years, still to praise God for what has been good and needs to
be cherished.

'Our Lord often spoke of his love of children: "Let them come to me,"
he said, "and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to
such as these."

Mrs Johnson said she found it hard to grieve without having said a final goodbye to her son at a funeral service

'And he didn't mince his words about those who harm children - "Truly God is their Judge".'

The depravity of Brady and Hindley, the luring of innocent children,
their sexual torture and moorland burial, during the still relatively
innocent Britain of the '60s, made the Moors Murders one of the most
infamous episodes in criminal history.

Almost half a century on from their crimes, the impact of the killing
spree cannot be exaggerated, with many of the hundreds who attended the
service of a similar age to Mrs Johnson, all who lived through that
time in the city and unable to forget.

A personal hand-written note from Home Secretary Alan Johnson on behalf
of all the MPs who have served as Home Secretaries since the murders
was given to Keith's mother.

Phil Woolas, Labour MP for Oldham, whose constituency covers Saddleworth Moor, attended the service and handed over the note.

'The message reflects the thanks from the people of this country,' he said.

'Winnie Johnson, in her grief and her campaign, reflects all that is great about motherhood.

'Ian Brady is rightly still incarcerated. We hope we can get a final
conclusion to this that would give some comfort to Winnie Johnson but,
as the Bishop said, there is evil.'

Moors murderers: Ian Brady and Myra Hindley

Prayers were also said and candles lit for Brady and Hindley's other young victims.

Keith Bennett was the third of the Moors Murderers' five child victims.
He was snatched on June 16 1964 after he left home in Longsight on his
way to his grandmother's house nearby.

Pauline Reade, 16, disappeared on her way to a disco on July 12, 1963
and John Kilbride, 12, was snatched in November the same year. Lesley
Ann Downey, 10, was lured away from a funfair on Boxing Day 1964 and
Edward Evans, 17, was killed in October 1965.

Brady was given life at Chester Assizes in 1966 for the murders of John, Lesley Ann and Edward.

Hindley was convicted of killing Lesley Ann and Edward and shielding Brady after John's murder, and jailed for life.

In 1987 the pair finally admitted killing Keith and Pauline.

Both were taken back to Saddleworth Moor in 1987 to help police find
the remains of the missing victims but only Pauline's body was found.

Hindley died in jail in November 2002, aged 60.

Brady has spent the last 25 years at high-security Ashworth Hospital in Merseyside.